CHARLESTON, W.Va. — On the hottest day of the year recorded in years in West Virginia’s Capital City, a Kanawha County mother was arrested for allegedly leaving her son, age three months, in a vehicle while she ran into a Walmart.
On Saturday evening, officers with the South Charleston Police Department were called to the Southridge Walmart, located along Route 119, for a report of a child in a vehicle with no adult present.
The baby was found to be “sweating profusely” in a car seat “soaked with sweat,” according to WSAZ Television.
Ten minutes after the vehicle was opened and the child removed, a temperature check from firefighters with the South Charleston Fire Department recorded a temperature inside of 129 degrees.
On Sunday, the baby was said to be in good condition in the custody of Child Protective Services.
A woman identified as the boy’s mother, Monica Keaton, 35, of Charleston, was charged with child neglect with significant or substantial risk of injury or death.
The National Weather Service said the official high temperature reported on Saturday in Charleston, 97 degrees, was the highest since July 8, 2012.